The many faces of empathy, between phenomenology and neuroscience
Journal Title: Archives of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy - Year 2013, Vol 15, Issue 4
Abstract
The definition of empathy differs among the domains which deal with it. Introduced in medicine and psy - chology in the late 19th-early 20th century, it received contrasting definitions from philosophers and psy - chopathologists. The neuroscience paradigm of empathy for pain allowed us to identify two components of empathy, one automatic, bottom-up, and one cognitive, top-down. The role of mirror neurons in this context appears to be central. Empathy is influenced by perception of other, closeness, belonging to a social group, and gender, with women empathizing more than men. The areas involved are the self-oth - er distinction areas (dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and temporoparietal junction), the anterior insula, and the anterior cingulate. The activations identified in the brain allow for better understanding the phenom - enon, but not to draw a consensus definition. Rather than providing responses, the neurosciences send back to philosophy new, formidable questions to be asked.
Authors and Affiliations
Massimiliano Aragona, Georgios Kotzalidis, Antonella Puzella
Keywords
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